paulsmithiii's Reviews
50 reviews Back to paulsmithiii's Equipboard
498
Travel Guitar
I wanted a guitar that I could travel with that offered decent features but wouldn't be such a risk to take along - baggage handlers, thieves, etc... This one works for me. The frets needed to be filed at the edges to improve the comfort. It doesn't have the electronics of a true Tele but it serves me well when I'm sitting on a lanai in Hawaii.
498
The to Do the Voodoo
I use this baby for mostly Clapton, Cream or Blind Faith tunes, or just to jam in places where a Wah-Wah sounds good. Every now and then I attempt a pathetic version of Voodoo Chile but I have a lot of fun with it.
498
Great Value for Classic Tone
This is my first resonator guitar and I'm having a great time with it. It has helped me further hone my slide technique and inspired me to learn.
498
Like Holding a Woman In Your Arms
I have 3 Stratocasters. Two are Made in Mexico and one is from Corona, CA. I love the versatility of tone the Strat offers. My Deluxe Players Strat is older than the one pictured and is black. She has Super Fat-Super Strat single coil pickups which provide a ballsy, SRV roadhouse blues type of tone. Fender later changed to their Noiseless single coils but these pickups are the main reason I love this Strat. The push/push switch activates the bridge pickup in positions four and five on the selector. I call this "the Beatles button" because it can conjure up a great early Beatles tone when employed. These come with beautiful gold hardware. I believe that overall the Stratocaster is the best guitar design ever invented.
498
My Clapton Axe
I saw one of these years before I was able to get it. I loved the transparent finish on the ash body. I loved the abalone inlays on the maple neck. I eventually found one with a rosewood neck. I then found the maple neck for it online. I further modded it with a classic saddles bridge. She's a dream to both play and look at! You can see me playing it in my profile picture.
498
Classic Look / Classic Tone
I absolutely love this guitar. The tone is classic Strat delivered by American Vintage Single Coil pickups married with modern switching. The Desert Sand color is beautiful and the guitar sports gold hardware. The feel of the neck is like butter it's so smooth. The neck has an antiqued look to the wood tone which is beautiful! This is one of my go-to guitars for classic rock, surf sound, and blues.
498
The Big Box
I have L.R. Baggs Lyrics installed in my Martin, my Epi and my Fender 12 string. The sound is beautiful. It enhances the natural lows and highs of the guitar without stealing from it's original warmth. I highly recommend them!
498
My Electric Strings for Life
I've used Ernie Ball SSs for over 40 years. I've never felt the need to try anything else. They've always been the right gauge with the right tone. I know the next gauge up gives a fatter tone, in fact I use the Regular Slinky's on my hollow body guitars, but for my Strats, my Les Paul, these are perfect.
498
Test Drive
I'm trying these strings for the first time and put them on my Epi. I didn't know they were designated "Bluegrass" - I don't play bluegrass but I am doing a lot of finger picking on acoustic right now (CSN, Led Zeppelin) and these lighter gauge strings are very good for that so I believe I made a good choice.
498
True Grand Piano Sound at Your Fingertips
This is the finest electronic keyboard I've ever played. Each sample is incredibly authentic. The keys are weighted for true feel. There are so many effects I've yet to explore them all. I mostly use it for grand piano, electric piano (ala Fender Rhodes) and Organ. The strings sound beautiful as well. It's a must for home or professional entertainment.
498
Close to Leslie
I did a lot of research on a Leslie sampling pedal including Leslie's. This was my favorite. It is easliy controlled by the foot switches and has a great variation of tone. I have always loved the Leslie tone on songs such as "Badge" by Cream, "No Matter What" by Badfinger and "It Don't Come Easy" by Ringo Starr. There's a lot of fun in this box!
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498
Rock-a-Billy Pedal
I picked this pedal up primarily for slap back tone paired with my Gretsch guitars. It does a nice job and was a less expensive choice over the Nocture Brain Echo that Brian Setzer uses.
498
Gettin' In Tune
It pays to have a good tuner on your pedal board. This one is pretty reliable. The display is a bit hard for me to see with my 64 year-old eyes though.
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498
My Pride and Joy
I love, love, love this pedal. It offers tone I've looked for for a long time. Very reminiscent of Stevie Ray Vaughan's sound. It's essential for roadhouse blues as well as classic rock.
498
Bellsls & Whistles
The samples in this board are pretty good. I can't get the sound out of the tube screamer that I get from my Ibanez. I like the spring reverb - very Fender-like. It has a very deep reverb that I enjoy pairing with my Les Paul to get that classic Fleetwood Mac Echo often used by Danny Kirwin and Bob Welch, the kind you hear on Future Games and Show Me A Smile. There are a lot of samples to choose from for those who love many different effects.
498
Bass-ically Rock Solid
I don't play bass a lot but when I do I really enjoy it. I wanted an amp I could use to jam with others and blend well with drums. This fits the bill. My version is no longer in production but features 75 watts of power through a single 12" speaker. It is solid state which I chose to save on expense. For my needs it more than gets the job done.
498
Loud, loud, loud
After many years without a Fender amp I purchase one of these in Blonde Tolex. I envisioned it being a blues amp which of course it is very good for. The 12" Celestion speaker was a great match for the powerful tube electronics featured. The overdrive channel was interesting but limited and the foot pedal only controlled the overdrive leaving switching from reverb and back a manual chore. I added a Line 6 M 13 effects array to compensate but I missed the true Fender reverb. The other problem it gave me was the breaking point on the clean channel. So much volume had to be added to achieve it. I tried modding the tubes according to some forums I read but wasn't that happy with the results. I still use the Hot Rod for clean channel play, and in tandem with the M 13 box but my go-to amp is now my Fender '68 Custom Vibrolux.
498
Modern Technology / Classic Sound
I chose this amp after playing on several Fenders and even a Supro. Years ago I had a late sixties Fender Super Six (a piece of gear you later kick yourself for getting rid of). The Super Six was basically a Fender Twin sitting on four additional speakers. It was way too much amp to both control volume-wise and haul around but it had an amazing sound. The Vibrolux '68 reissue was the one amplifier that reminded me most of my long, lost friend. I know I could have picked up a vintage Twin in Austin or Houston but had to keep the cost lower than that. One channel is set up like a Fender Bassman tone stack while the alternate channel is more vintage Fender Tube amp. The reverb and tremolo are very close to the original Fender sound. Since my go-to guitars are primarily Stratocasters and Gretschs this amp makes the perfect marriage. I like the ease the foot pedal affords to turn the reverb and/or tremolo off or on. Another big thing that impressed me about the Vibrolux '68 was the dial point at which the amp breaks over to distortion. You don't have to push the two 10 inch Celestion speakers into the next county to get a natural growl out of it. It's become my favorite of the amps I've ever owned.
498
From Rock to Jazz
I was always interested in a guitar in the style of a Gibson ES-335 but I didn't like the larger neck on the Gibson. I have smaller hands and wanted a neck I could really get around with ease. I played an T-168mx at a shop in San Antonio and loved the feel AND the sound. The humbucker pickups on the Eastmans are some of the best I've ever heard. The shop didn't have the finish I wanted (the one featured in this photo) so I searched and found one online in a shop in England. It was just as I imagined it would be. Eastman is Chinese made but it's not an English, German or American company building in China. The company originated in China and these folks really know what they're doing. They began making classical violins and then added guitars made with the same craftsmanship they had built their orchestral instrument reputation on. I feel very fortunate to have acquired this one. Update - I've since added a Gibson ES-335 to the family and it rocks!
498
A Lot of Sound for the Money
I bought this guitar from my Daughter-in-law who was looking to get rid of some gear. I had not had a 12 string acoustic before and I was really pleased at the tone of this one. It has a solid spruce top with mahogany sides and back. For a lower priced guitar the tuners seem very good. This is not a Martin of course but it really holds its own. I've performed with it and always gotten nice comments about the look and the sound.